Missing and Delayed Auditory Responses in Young and Older Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Background: The development of left and right superior temporal gyrus (STG) 50 ms (M50) and 100 ms (M100) auditory responses in typically developing (TD) children and in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was examined. Reflecting differential development of primary/secondary auditory areas and supporting previous studies, it was hypothesized that whereas left and right M50 STG responses would be observed equally often in younger and older children, left and right M100 STG responses would more often be absent in younger than older children. In ASD, delayed neurodevelopment would be indicated via the observation of a greater proportion of ASD than TD subjects showing missing M100 but not M50 responses in both age groups. Missing M100 responses would be observed primarily in children with ASD with language impairment (ASD + LI) (and perhaps concomitantly lower general cognitive abilities).Methods: Thirty-five TD controls, 63 ASD without language impairment (ASD − LI), and 38 ASD + LI were recruited. Binaural tones were presented. The presence or absence of a STG M50 and M100 was scored. Subjects were grouped into younger (6–10 years old) and older groups (11–15 years old).Results: Although M50 responses were observed equally often in older and younger subjects and equally often in TD and ASD, left and right M50 responses were delayed in ASD − LI and ASD + LI. Group comparisons showed that in younger subjects M100 responses were observed more often in TD than ASD + LI (90 versus 66%, p = 0.04), with no differences between TD and ASD − LI (90 versus 76%, p = 0.14) or between ASD − LI and ASD + LI (76 versus 66%, p = 0.53). In older subjects, whereas no differences were observed between TD and ASD + LI, responses were observed more often in ASD − LI than ASD + LI. Findings were similar when splitting the ASD group into lower- and higher-cognitive functioning groups.Conclusion: Although present in all groups, M50 responses were delayed in ASD. Examining the TD data, findings indicated that by 11 years, a right M100 should be observed in 100% of subjects and a left M100 in 80% of subjects. Thus, by 11 years, lack of a left and especially right M100 offers neurobiological insight into sensory processing that may underlie language or cognitive impairment.

Translational Mouse Models of Autism: Advancing Toward Pharmacological Therapeutics

“…seizures, aggression, anxiety, repetitive behaviors, language skills, or IQ. Another strategy is to employ proposed biomarkers, e.g., EEG gamma activity (Bosl et al 2011; Rojas and Wilson 2014), or delayed auditory responses (Edgar et al 2014). Parsing ASD symptoms into more tractable endophenotypes would further allow the use of animal models to illuminate genetic underpinnings and relevant molecular pathways.…”

Atypical Bilateral Brain Synchronization in the Early Stage of Human Voice Auditory Processing in Young Children with Autism

“…Reports have indicated that the ASD population exhibits elevated rates of brain stem or peripheral hearing dysfunction [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] and abnormalities in AEF components (i.e., cortical dysfunction) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][21][22][23][24][25]. Intriguingly, research has indicated that individuals with ASD may present with peripheral auditory asymmetry [13], which may distort the cortical bilateral synchronization of AEF components in the central nervous system.…”

“…Altered auditory processing systems in children with ASD have been studied as neurological correlates of some phenotypes in ASD, such as inhibited language acquisition [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] and auditory hypersensitivity [9][10][11], and previous studies that have focused on auditory responses of the brain have also demonstrated altered cerebral laterality [2,5,6] and regional connectivity [12] in children with ASD. These studies have indicated alterations in cortical auditory processes in ASD [1,2,4,5,9,10], whereas increased rates of brain stem or peripheral hearing dysfunction have also been reported in the ASD population [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

“…In the last decade, MEG has emerged as an important investigatory tool in neurodevelopmental studies because MEG has advantages over other neuroimaging techniques for young children, including safety, fewer constraints and less environmental noise. Using MEG, many recent studies have observed aberrant brain activities in children with ASD [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] by investigating brain connectivity [26,[28][29][30] or atypical brain responses to auditory stimuli [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][21][22][23][24][25].…”

“…In previous MEG studies, this component has been alternatively labeled M100 or N100m; we here call this component "N1m." The main sources of the P1m and N1m are the auditory cortex and association cortices, and abnormalities in AEF components have been reported in patients with ASD [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][21][22][23][24][25]. Although many prior studies have focused on the aberrant intensity or latency of AEF components in children with ASD, no investigations have focused on the bilateral synchronization of AEF components in children with ASD.…”